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So I finally moved into the latest console generation and picked up an XBOX One since my gaming PC has given up the ghost and I don't much fancy spending 3x the price of a console for a new one...

Anyways, I picked up Fallout 4 initially and was promptly dismayed by how boring it was...did they change ANYTHING from Fallout 3 or New Vegas? It felt like the exact same game with slightly "better" graphics. So I quickly replaced it with DA: Inquisition.

OH MY GOD THIS GAME IS SO GOOD WHERE HAS IT BEEN ALL MY LIFE

I'm did one playthrough as a female human Reaver, but didn't have the DLCs at the time and I'm not too keen on revisiting that character. My second playthrough was a female Qunari Assassin that alternated between dual wielding and Archery. I ended up sticking with Archery in the endgame after acquiring a horribly broken bow that has On Kill: Target Explodes for 150% weapon damage. My third playthrough is a female Elven Archer, primarily to see the unique Elvish dialogue choices and how the Temple of Mythal will be different.

Anyways, I'd like to discuss possibly the in-game lore and repercussions of the following:

Descent Spoilers!


Trespasser Spoilers!


War Table Spoilers!



Also, what stat allocations seem to yield the biggest and best output and criticals for physical damage dealers. As an Assassin I typically only use 25-50% Armor Penetration and throw the rest of my stat budget into critical damage, since I autocrit and ignore a portion of armor when delivering a stealth attack. With Iron Bull I run with 100% Armor Penetration, but I'm debating dropping this down and upping my critical chance and damage instead.

I can't really tell which of the following three is the best damage dealer:

Archery Assassin
Dual Wield Assassin
Reaver

Tempest seems to be slightly behind those three, or maybe I just suck at it. Varric is pretty useful as an Artificer and I like having him in the group typically, especially for blowing a full stamina bar on Elemental Mines combined with my Rogue one shotting and then exploding an enemy for 5-6k AoE damage. Clears stuff pretty quick.

Reaver seems to be a bit better at sustained DPS, but Assassin has stupid burst. Especially with Hidden Blades or that charged shot ability (I forget the name) out of stealth. Or even better, Mark of Death + Stealth + Hidden Blades and Dragons die quick.

Anyways, I really enjoyed almost all of the companions. The romance with Sera seemed to be strictly based on sex and physicality at first, but blossomed into something deeper. The romance with Cullen was sweet, especially when I flirted, but delayed asking if he was with anyone until after completing his . I'm wanting to play as a Dwarf male next to pursue the romance with Cassandra and do a bit of a feth magic, feth Dalish traditions, feth the Qun game.

Also, Iron Bull is hilarious. Especially his dialogue with Vivienne.

As a whole I think it's the best western fantasy RPG I've played (I have yet to play the Witcher series mainly because I dislike the fact I can not customize my character's appearance and have grown extremely critical of the complete lack of a decent story in recent Bethesda games). Morrowind was a gem and I still consider it be revolutionary, but Oblivion was meh. It was fun to be a stealth based archer, but that was it. The Dark Brotherhood quest line was the game's saving grace. Skyrim had very enjoyable guild quest lines, but as a whole the world lacked the liveliness of Dragon Age Inquisition.

Waaaay preferred Origins myself

Anyways, I picked up Fallout 4 initially and was promptly dismayed by how boring it was...did they change ANYTHING from Fallout 3 or New Vegas? It felt like the exact same game with slightly "better" graphics. So I quickly replaced it with DA: Inquisition.

What?? Yes, actually. They changed quite a lot. Fallout 4 was basically a re-skinned and upgraded Skyrim. Fallout 3 and New Vegas are drastically different from Fallout 4, and are far more worthy of the RPG label IMO. They were RPG's with FPS elements. Fallout 4 is an FPS with RPG elements. I've heard complaints that Fallout 4 should have been more like F3 and New Vegas, but never have I heard the complaint that it wasn't different enough.


That said, Dragon Age is an awesome series that I've never completed. I'm far too much of a completionist to get through the first game (Origins), and I want to play the series in order. Actually finishing the game then getting Dragon Age 2 is on my to do list, right after playing Fallout 1 (I'm 3/4 through that as of today) and 2, Baldur's Gate 1, 2 and Icewind Dale, and Pillars of Eternity.

Speaking as someone who's only played half of the first game (its really big and really hard), my favourite aspect of the series is the soundtrack.

I've yet to actually play the DLC for Inquisition so I can't add anything to that part of the discussion, but I did enjoy the game enough to play through it with four characters. Still prefer Origins, but Inquisition isn't far behind, I'm glad it wasn't as horrendous as DA2 at least. I kind of wish they hadn't done away with actual tactics like in Origins, and I kind of wish the difficulty was still relatively high, but again, I still enjoyed the game quite a bit.

I found a dual-wield tempest rogue did the most burst damage for me in my play throughs, if only for Thousand Cuts, which is admittedly a ridiculously powerful focus ability, but still. I mean, on hard difficulty, I had Sera, despite using a bow, take the Hinterlands dragon down to around a 1/3 of it's health in one attack with a full focus Thousand Cuts due to the amount of critical chance and damage she had, I guess. For general DPS I don't think you can beat a dual wield Assassin, though on the higher difficulties it's a little trickier to use until you make weapons that add guard or make armor that grants Walking Fortress for x seconds, I found, at least on nightmare.

Oh and just while we're here, anyone else find it silly how OP you can make a Knight Enchanter?

I think...if it's still possible, you can one shot nearly (by nearly I mean 8/10)every dragon with a single assassin kitted out for crit burst damage.

I never built one because I can't stand those classes (I'm more of a slow, pondering plate-wearer type of guy), but the Reaver was an absolute BLAST to play.

As for the Knight Enchanter...yeah, they're silly. But Necromancy is even more broken - resurrect giants...save game, they become permanent.

I loved DA: Inquisition. My first playthough was a male human warrior, great weapon. Usually partied around with Cass and Viv and Varric. Second (somewhat current, but lapsed due to Far cry and FO:4) play is a female elven mage. Generally roll with Sera, Blackwall and ....dude elf mage. Forget his name.

I generally play the game like a hack n slash, less like a tactical RPG, and for this reason I view rogues as little more than lock openers and comic relief. Being able to one-shot a dragon however.... hmm.

I found the mopey daemon companion infuriating, although that may because of the whiny voice acting.

 feeder wrote:
I loved DA: Inquisition. My first playthough was a male human warrior, great weapon. Usually partied around with Cass and Viv and Varric. Second (somewhat current, but lapsed due to Far cry and FO:4) play is a female elven mage. Generally roll with Sera, Blackwall and ....dude elf mage. Forget his name.

I generally play the game like a hack n slash, less like a tactical RPG, and for this reason I view rogues as little more than lock openers and comic relief. Being able to one-shot a dragon however.... hmm.

I found the mopey daemon companion infuriating, although that may because of the whiny voice acting.

I think you mean Spock. Yeah, I don't care for Cole either, but he has some interesting insights at time.

I don't want to go too offtopic, but Fallout 4 was a huge disappointment for me. Of course, despite playing through F3 and FNV twice (once separately each and once with Tale of Two Wastelands) it was always secondary to my desire to play ME2/3, Skyrim, or TOR. The series just didn't reach out and grab me that much.

I'm also not a huge fan of Dragon Age: Origins. It had some great moments, but it followed that done to death Bioware formula that they used for years. ME2, ME3, DA2, and DA:I finally got away from that and with the exception of DA2 are much more interesting games, because I know it's not going to follow the standard path of PC joins super secretive badass organization, PC travels to 3-4 different planets/zones to gather allies/artifacts, finally fight the Dragon or first encounter with the Big Bad, and then second and final encounter with the Big Bad. It got old quick.

If anything, Cole's stealth animation is unique and a nice touch, but that's about all he has going for him. His personal quest is interesting in that you learn more about what he is, but he's still weird and...well, weird. His little antics around Skyhold are pretty fun though, I'll give them that.

I enjoyed Origins for it's story and characters, but also the ability to customize how my party's AI behaved and reacted to specific combat situations, something they took out for Inquisition. Not knocking Inquisition, I've already said I greatly enjoyed the game, but the ability to make in-depth custom behaviors for AI was a lot of fun. I can't tell Blackwall to only use walking fortress when his health is at X threshold, for example. I'd have to disable it's use then switch to him and manually use it. I could tell Alistair in Origins to use Shield Wall when he's surrounded by 5+ enemies and then turn it off when he was surrounded by no enemies via the tactics menu, though. It sounds trivial but it made the game play so much more interesting, imo.

You don't need to play it as a tactical turn-based game in order to play a rogue, you just need to think like a rogue. Get in, unload, roll out and let your tank gain aggro. Rinse, repeat. Archer-rogue is a bit more forgiving, since you have the advantage of range, but the dagger-wielding rogue can stack so many bonuses onto that initial from-stealth strike that you can straight-up murder someone as the opening of the battle.

I just started re-playing it again, and it's some of the best fun I've had playing a game in ages. I've always liked games that have more of a focus on the role-playing aspect, and I"m getting my fill with this. Interacting with your companions and learning their stories and their personalities is one of the best parts of the game I feel.

Also, anyone else really enjoy Sera's stuff? Some of the funniest gak I've seen in a while

 War Kitten wrote:
I just started re-playing it again, and it's some of the best fun I've had playing a game in ages. I've always liked games that have more of a focus on the role-playing aspect, and I"m getting my fill with this. Interacting with your companions and learning their stories and their personalities is one of the best parts of the game I feel.

Also, anyone else really enjoy Sera's stuff? Some of the funniest gak I've seen in a while

She's a right nutter and a very polarizing character, but sweet as sugar once you melt through that exterior. 'twas a good romance.

I just enjoy the fact that as part of her story arc you get to play pranks on your advisors. Now THAT was a riot.

 War Kitten wrote:
I just started re-playing it again, and it's some of the best fun I've had playing a game in ages. I've always liked games that have more of a focus on the role-playing aspect, and I"m getting my fill with this. Interacting with your companions and learning their stories and their personalities is one of the best parts of the game I feel.

Also, anyone else really enjoy Sera's stuff? Some of the funniest gak I've seen in a while

I have a IRL friend (ironically, or perhaps not, named Sarah) that is basically the RL version of Sera. I am convinced they somehow kidnapped and digitally-cloned my friend for that game, a la Tron.

The character, though, is amazingly well-written and an absolute blast to pal around with, even if you're playing a male Inquisitor.

Being a year or two behind means not having to buy the newest most expensive computer hardware, but more affordable hardware with 80% of the performance but 50% of the price.

It also means getting games post patch and all DRM content bundled into one low cost.

I am yet to play Dragon Age: Inquisition, its still on my to get list, but its not forgotten.

 Orlanth wrote:
Being a year or two behind means not having to buy the newest most expensive computer hardware, but more affordable hardware with 80% of the performance but 50% of the price.

It also means getting games post patch and all DRM content bundled into one low cost.

I am yet to play Dragon Age: Inquisition, its still on my to get list, but its not forgotten.

I can't recommend the game enough. There's just so much stuff to do! I'm currently trying to get through the Deep Roads questline

Thanks for the heads up, but I have yet to buy:

The Wiitcher Trilogy
Red Dead Redemption

Thanks again, but I have bought, (or have bought for me) and have yet to play:

Fallout 4 (this is an unopened Christmas present)
Total War: Warhammer (arrives next week then instantly gets to the top of my gaming list)
Gothic 4 Arcana (so long on my to do list)

Thanks yet another time, but I have a only scratched the surface of:

XCom 2
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada
Darkest Dungeon
Mordheim
Pillars of Eternity
Gothic 4
Skyrim

Thanks even more, but there are some games I never got to complete to my satisfaction and are still on my to do list:

Gothic 3
Empire Total War
Shadows of Amn

Thanks one last time, but there are games I played that I have the itch to play again

Morrowind,
Darklands
Medieval Total War 2
there are others but those are my main three.


I havent even begun to include my painting backlog which includes about a two dozen wargames armies from half a dozen games and several role playing minis sets or miniatures boardgames.

Dragon Age Inquisition is lucky it makes the list frankly. But it is on it, and I will get around to it, unlike my <insert miniaures game faction here>.

I bet I am not the only one with this issue.

I get the distinct sense that it's not very high on your priority list. Don't know why I think that though...

Too many good games to play.

Dragon Age Inquisition is easily my favourite game of the year. I finished Trespasser and immediately fell in love with the series again. The ending made me feel like the way I did when I saw Shawshank redemption. Utterly perfect. I cannot recommend the game enough, Once you get past the Hinterlands, it really picks up, tells an awesome story with interesting characters.(Youtube the wicked grace cutscene). And the final DLC finishes it in a way that cannot be topped.

Yep, the Hinterlands seemed to drag on forever, but after that the game really gets interesting and fun.

The thing that I figured out with my 2nd and subsequent play-throughs is that, if you can break away from your completionist mindset (which, for me, is no easy task!) you can leave the Hinterlands fairly quickly and come back later after doing a few other maps.

 Psienesis wrote:
The thing that I figured out with my 2nd and subsequent play-throughs is that, if you can break away from your completionist mindset (which, for me, is no easy task!) you can leave the Hinterlands fairly quickly and come back later after doing a few other maps.

Yeah, the fade rift that spawns in the bottom end of the map with the rage demon can be really tricky if you dont level first!